Review: Eichardt’s Bar, Queenstown New Zealand

This Eichardt's Bar Queenstown Restaurant Review is from our recent visit to Queenstown, New Zealand. For prior posts in our trip report on New Zealand luxury lodges and fine dining, please see:

Eichardt's Bar Restaurant Location and History

Eichardt's Bar is located on Marine Parade in downtown Queenstown, right across the street from Lake Wakatipu. We were able to find metered parking a few blocks away. Eichardt's Bar is part of Eichardt's Hotel, a historic hotel that dates to 1859, when William Gilbert Rees built a homestead on the site where Eichardt's now stands. A few laters he partnered with Albert Eichardt, who become the sole proprietor of the hotel in 1869.

The Scene

Eichardt's Bar is small, with just a handful of tables, so no advance reservations are accepted. Fortunately, when we arrive for lunch around 12:30pm, just one other table was occupied by a couple, so we had no problems securing the other table near the window. We were there on a weekday in fall however, so I'd recommend arriving before peak dining times on weekends and during popular holiday periods.

A few other couples were seated during our visit, although no other families. We were warmly welcomed, however, even with our 7 year old.

Eichardt's Bar Lunch Menu and Food

Eichardt's Bar serves a tapas-style menu for lunch and dinner, so it's perfect to share a variety of the small plates. The menu isn't large, but the choices were innovative and appealing to us, although a bit less so to our son due to the spice in some of the dishes.

First to arrive of the dishes we ordered was the homemade sourdough bread with Cairnmuir olive oil and macadamia dukkah. My only quibble was that I think they could have been more generous with the bread, given that you're paying for it and bread isn't such an expensive item to make. I do understand keeping the macadamia garnish small however, as macadamias are an expensive ingredient.

Next to arrive was the smoked beef brisket in a chocolate, chilli and cinnamon glaze, accompanied by beetroot puree and parsnip crisps. This was a fantastic dish, and our only wish, as with the bread, was that there had been a bit more of it. But as a meat dish, it was the appropriate sized portion for the NZD 12 price (~$8) so if we'd had more time, we would have ordered another of these.

We'd asked our server if it was possible to have some plain salad for our son, even though this wasn't on the menu, as a kind of vegetable for him. She apologized that they didn't have any, but then surprised us by actually getting someone to run out for some (!) and brought it to our table. Talk about excellent service–we really appreciated her effort, since we had already accepted the fact there wasn't any regular salad at the moment in the Eichardt's Bar kitchen.

Next up were the harissa marinated lamb cheeks with hummus, cumin yoghurt, and marinated courgette (zucchini). These were meltingly tender and my husband and I both loved them, although they were a bit too spicy for our son, who preferred the brisket.

Eichardt's is known for their seafood chowder, so a big bowl of it was a must-order for us. For me, this tied with the beef brisket as my favorite dish, with its generous helping of cod fish, shrimp, clams and mussels, creamy broth, and seaweed garnish.

The chips (french fries) were thick cut and perfectly crispy on the outside, so my husband happily ate most of these, helped by my son, though these of course were less distinctive than the other dishes, though the garlic aioli was quite addictive. Lots of places around the world to enjoy excellent french fries, after all.

The Verdict

We were happy that we made time for a stop at Eichardt's Bar on our way to Queenstown Airport for our departing flight, since it was a delicious lunch and more innovative than we expected for such a small venue in downtown Queenstown. While there was a bit of a wait from when we placed our order to when even the bread arrived (perhaps the kitchen was a little short-staffed) this was made up for by the quality of the food and the kind effort of our server to even procure some fresh salad greens from off-site, that weren't even in the Eichardt's kitchen. I highly recommend stopping at Eichardt's at an off-peak time (keeping in mind the no reservations policy) for lunch or dinner during a stay in Queenstown.

A benefit of coming during the day is that afterwards you can wander across the street to the shore of Lake Wakatipu to enjoy the view: